Staying Alive (1983) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error It's five years later and Tony Manero's Saturday Night Fever is still burning. Now he's strutting toward his biggest challenge yet - succeeding as a dancer on the Broadway stage. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON TV Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence.

a list of 33 titles created 04 Aug 2011 a list of 40 titles created 05 Sep 2011 a list of 49 titles created 02 Oct 2011 a list of 45 titles created 03 Nov 2013 a list of 31 titles created 16 Sep 2015 Search for " Staying Alive " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 nominations. See more awards » Videos A Brooklyn teenager feels his only chance to succeed is as the king of the disco floor. His carefree youth and weekend dancing help him to forget the reality of his bleak life. Director: John Badham God has had just about enough of the human's attitude so he will destroy the planet very soon. It is up to a struggling inventor and a bank teller, both with very amateur criminal minds, to...

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Director: Jane Wagner Scott Barnes (Travolta) is an alcoholic turned social worker hellbent on saving a young boy named Tommy (Lawrence) from self-destructing when he finds out he has begun selling crack in an ... See full summary » Director: Rod Holcomb A country music star must turn an obnoxious New York cabbie into a singer in order to win a bet. Director: Bob Clark Conservative street cop DaSilva reluctantly agrees to terminate an international terrorist who has demanded media attention. But DaSilva's "at-home" tactics are very much put to the challenge. Directors: Bruce Malmuth, Gary Nelson Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer, Billy Dee Williams A new music teacher in a 1955 West Texas home for wayward boys brings new vision and hope for many of the interned boys. Director: Jeffrey Hornaday Edit Storyline In this sequel to Saturday Night Fever, former disco king Tony Manero has left Brooklyn and lives in Manhattan. He stays in a cheap hotel and works as a dance instructor and as a waiter at a dance club, trying to succeed as a professional dancer on Broadway.

The breakaway from his Brooklyn life, family and friends seems to have matured Tony and refined his personality, represented by his diminished accent and his avoidance of alcohol and profanity. However, certain attitudes have not changed, as with his most recent girlfriend, who's also the singer of a local rock band. Written by Mark J. Popp <mjpopp@cwave.com> See All (43) » Taglines: Tony Manero knows the old days are over. But nobody's gonna tell him he can't feel that good again. See more » Genres: 15 July 1983 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Saturday Night Fever 2 See more » Filming Locations: 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)| Dolby (35 mm prints) Color: Did You Know? Trivia Sylvester Stallone : Uncredited, as a man on the street that bumps into Tony Manero in between the rejection scenes. See more » Goofs When Tony tries out for the second show, he wears number 46. In one quick shot, he wears number 40, his number from the first tryout.

See more » Quotes (United States) – See all my reviews I absolutely agree with Treadway...this is one of my favorite movies ever...when it came out in 1983 my kids were babies and we still had drive ins..I must have taken my babies to see that(they slept)7 times at the drive in..the music..the dancing...everyone was so good looking..it was and is a FUN movie..and thats what counts..!! Now my new kids can enjoy it as well...I LOVE Cynthia Rhoads..she can dance her fanny off and she is a wonderful singer as well. No this movie won't win an Oscar but how many times do you want to see Sheindlers List(sp)? The music is wonderful..I ADORE the Bee Gees and the dance number with Travolta and Rhodes is so sensual and sexy. The last number is just plain FUN...I don't have anything bad at all to say about this movie..10+ stars..!! 37 of 53 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Audience Reviews for Staying Alive Boring, terrible and the begining of Travolta's decline.

Lucas Martins Super Reviewer I got bored with this movie so fast, it's not even funny. No one cares about what Tony's boring life is like after all the interesting stuff already happened. Aj V Super Reviewer I usually expect sequels to pale in comparison to the original. I have lowered expectations when watching such movies. For instance, one of my favorite movies of the 80s was Karate Kid. The Karate Kid part II, while not nearly as good, was a worthy sequel. Same thing with Rambo, First Blood Part 1 and II, Godfather part 1 and 2, etc... This sequel however was unwatchable. Quite frankly, there was no reason to ever make this movie. Tony Manero's life in the first one was not that interesting. What made the movie "cool" was it capitalized on the disco craze and had up and comer Vinnie Barbarino (ok John Travlota) as the lead. The success of the movie was more about the timing than anything else. So now its six years later and we have Tony Manero back on the big screen, dancing yet again. Problem is, dancing is no longer as cool as it was in the 70s.

John Travolta is beginning a decade long downswing of his career, and quite frankly, nobody cares about the character Tony Manero. Nobody left the original Saturday Night Fever saying, "I wonder what happens to Tony Manero". Nobody cared, it was simply a movie about the music and dancing with a marginal plot squeezed in. The plot of Staying Alive is utterly ridiculous: Dance instructor trying to become a "dance pro", while managing dual love interests. All this culminates in a Broadway show that is unwatchable. It was simply a bad movie in the early 80s. Today, its almost comical to watch. I'll give Travlota credit though, many actors would have been exiled after such a catastrophe...he fought his way back to stardom. I have to believe when this comes on cable, he has the ability to laugh at himself. Cassandra Maples Super Reviewer From the gritty electricity of "Saturday Night Fever" to sweaty Broadway dancing? It just doesn't carry over very well as a sequel. It felt a bit gay. I liked some of the music in it.

Lafe Fredbjornson Staying Alive Movie Review & Film Summary (1983) | Roger Ebert Tweet "Staying Alive" is a big disappointment. This sequel to the gutsy, electric " Saturday Night Fever " is a slick, commercial cinematic jukebox, a series of self-contained song-and-dance sequences that could be cut apart and played forever on MTV -- which is probably what will happen. Like " Flashdance ," it isn't really a movie at all, but an endless series of musical interludes between dramatic scenes that aren't there. It's not even as good as "Flashdance," but it may appeal to the same audience; it's a Walkman for the eyes. Advertisement The movie has an extremely simple plot. Extremely. Six years have passed since Tony Manero ( John Travolta ) gazed longingly at the lights of Manhattan at the end of "Saturday Night Fever." Now he lives in a fleabag Manhattan hotel, works as a waiter and a dance instructor and dates a young dancer ( Cynthia Rhodes ) with the patience of a saint. He's still a woman-chaser. But he meets a long-haired British dancer ( Finola Hughes ) who's his match.

She's a queen bitch who takes him to bed and jilts him. Meanwhile, he gets a job as a dancer in her new show and when her lead dancer falters, Tony gets the job. Does this all sound familiar? The movie was co-authored and directed by Sylvester Stallone , and is the first bad movie he's made. He remembers all the moves from his Rocky plots, but he leaves out the heart -- and, even worse, he leaves out the characters. Everybody in "Staying Alive" is Identikit. The characters are clichés, their lives are clichés and God knows their dialogue is clichés. The big musical climaxes are interrupted only long enough for people to shout prepackaged emotional countercharges at each other. There is little attempt to approximate human speech. Like the Rocky movies, "Staying Alive" ends with a big, visually explosive climax. It is so ludicrous it has to be seen to be believed.

It's opening night on Broadway: Tony Manero not only dances like a hero, he survives a production number of fire, ice, smoke, flashing lights and laser beams, throws in an improvised solo -- and ends triumphantly by holding Finola Hughes above his head with one arm, like a quarry he has tracked and killed. The musical he is allegedly starring in is something called "Satan's Alley," but it's so laughably gauche it should have been called "Springtime for Tony." Stallone makes little effort to convince us we're watching a real stage presentation; there are camera effects the audience could never see, montages that create impossible physical moves and -- most inexplicable of all -- a vocal track, even though nobody on stage is singing. It's a mess. Travolta's big dance number looks like a high-tech TV auto commercial that, got sick to its stomach. Advertisement What I really missed in "Staying Alive" was the sense of reality in "Saturday Night Fever" -- the sense that Tony came from someplace and was somebody particular. There's no old neighborhood, no vulgar showdowns with his family (he apologizes to his mother for his "attitude"!) and no Brooklyn eccentricity.

Tony's world has been cloned into a backstage musical. And not a good one. The movie has one great moment. A victorious Tony says "I want to strut!" and struts across Times Square while the Bee Gees sing "Stayin' Alive." That could have been the first shot of a great movie. It's the last shot of this one. Popular Blog Posts The Test of Time #3: Staying Alive - CraveOnline Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick talk plot holes, missing scenes, pitching for 'Star Wars' and of course, 'Deadpool 2.' The Test of Time #3: Staying Alive Is Sylvester Stallone's follow-up to Saturday Night Fever "the worst sequel ever made," or is it just Travoltin'? Starring: John Travolta, Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes.

Steve Inwood, Julie Bovasso, Kurtwood Smith, Frank Stallone Written by: Sylvester Stallone and Norman Wexler (Characters by Nik Cohn) Directed by: Sylvester Stallone What Is It: The sequel to 1977’s pop culture milestone Saturday Night Fever, which finds former disco superstar Tony Manero (John Travolta) trying to make it big on Broadway, and manipulating women to inflate his ego. What Critics Said: “Staying Alive is a sequel with no understanding of what made its predecessor work. The first film was funny and touching, powered by a phenomenally successful score. This one is clumsy, mean spirited and amazingly unmusical.” – Janet Maslin, The New York Times What Audiences Said: Despite a critical drubbing – Staying Alive still has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes – audiences flocked to the sequel, giving it one of the ten highest box office grosses of 1983, although it made far less than Flashdance, considered at the time to be something of a Saturday Night Fever clone. Time has not been kind to Staying Alive’s reputation.

It ranks high on nearly every list of “The Worst Sequels Ever Made.” Entertainment Weekly even gave it the #1 spot , above Batman & Robin. The Test of Time: I was convinced, when I saw Staying Alive a few weeks ago, that I had never seen this film before. It turns out my mother took me when I was just a baby. No wonder I now have a spandex fetish. Staying Alive is a legend in the film industry. As a sequel, it is supposedly so wrongheaded, so charmless, and so totally ill-advised that it deserves ridicule sight unseen. And yet that seems to be Staying Alive’s only lasting contribution to the pop culture landscape: the notion that it sucked. Unlike other notorious crapfests like Plan 9 from Outer Space or Ishtar, watching Staying Alive is considered pretty optional by most film enthusiasts. It’s rarely screened, rarely riffed on, and only infrequently parodied on television series like “The Simpsons.” If Staying Alive is so bad, why aren’t we watching it more often, if only to mock its silliness and learn from its mistakes?

The answer to this question, as I have recently discovered, is because Staying Alive isn’t as bad as we all remember. It’s not a classic, and it certainly lacks the cohesion, cool and barely post-pubescent passion of Saturday Night Fever, but it’s a surprisingly soulful examination of young manhood, told from the perspective of a filmmaker who, like Tony Manero, struggled en route to stardom in the heart of New York City. Staying Alive feels like a highly personal film and, like most personal films, it’s a jumble of hit-or-miss ideas. That said, Staying Alive, like many films of the 1980s, is still occasionally laughable today, if only for the music and wardrobe. Staying Alive stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, the role that earned him his first Oscar nomination (of two) in 1978. At the end of Saturday Night Fever [spoiler alert for a 36-year-old classic], Tony won the big dance competition, gave away the prize, and engaged in both street violence and attempted rape before planning to move to Manhattan and start his life anew.

When Staying Alive begins, we see that, years later, Tony’s existence now consists of one failed chorus line audition after another, a shiftless job as a dance instructor, and a relationship with the good-natured Jackie, a fellow backup dancer played by Dirty Dancing’s Cynthia Rhodes. Tony is committed to earning his maturity in Staying Alive: he turns down offers of sexy three-ways at a dance club where he now works as a bartender, and appears constantly disappointed at the state of post-disco dancing. (His old haunt, “The 2001 Odyssey Discotheque,” is now a gay nightclub; the era was already over.) While visiting Jackie on the last night of her latest show, Tony sees another particularly talented dancer on stage named Laura, played by Finola Hughes (Emma Frost from the TV movie “Generation X”). Tony quickly falls for Laura, and asks Jackie whether Laura is seeing anybody, which, yeah, hurts Jackie’s feelings. Because Tony is a total dick.

The plot follows Tony as he gets cast in “Satan’s Alley,” an abstract Broadway production co-starring Laura, and eventually working his way up to leading man status right next to her, but at its heart, Staying Alive is actually about how Tony is a dick. He has wonderful chemistry with Jackie, but sleeps around with Laura indiscriminately, simultaneously expressing constant and immature jealousy over Jackie's relationship with Carl, the bass player in her band, played by Frank Stallone (Sylvester Stallone’s brother, who also contributed to the soundtrack). At one point Tony complains that Carl is staring at Jackie, oblivious to the fact that Jackie just walked right off stage in the middle of a song to talk to Tony, ignoring Carl and her responsibilities to the band. Sexual attraction or no sexual attraction, I’d probably stare if my lead singer just ditched me mid-guitar solo. What. A. Dick. But again, Staying Alive is about what makes this giant dick finally go soft. And yes, I am going to stop talking like that. Tony’s immature attitudes towards women and romance are tested and eventually obliviated over the course of the film.

He turns down the aforementioned, consequence-free, and very hot three-way sex because he’s not looking for “a relationship,” but he only attaches himself to women he clearly views as relationship material: the supportive doormat Jackie, and the out-of-his-league Jackie, to whom Tony declares, “It’s like you really did something with your life. I think you’re significant.” Tony thinks he’s trading upward, believing that Laura is the person he himself will be once he succeeds on his own merits, not realizing that from an emotional perspective, they are astoundingly similar. Laura uses and abuses her sexual partners with no concern for their feelings, just like Tony. It’s a strong dramatic dichotomy, with Tony oblivious to his own passive cruelty until he himself becomes the victim of broken commitments and casual denials from the person he loves that their relationship has meaning. Curiously, the soundtrack by the Bee-Gees – less catchy than their original Saturday Night Fever tunes by about 75% – picks up on the irony way before Tony does. The lyrics “Over you is where I should be, I could be loving you too much,” are pretty on the nose. Too bad Tony can’t hear them. Stupid diegesis.

So the romantic drama works. Even though the hero is a total cad, he’s getting his comeuppance, although it comes a little too easily – Jackie, again, can be a bit of a doormat – and Tony never reaches true enlightenment. But it’s mostly satisfying. Travolta is still great at playing a character with a fragile ego, struggling to prove himself but, in the absence of actual accomplishment, settling for the immediate and superficial satisfaction of being desired by the opposite sex. When Laura destroys Tony's ego, and he gets a taste of his own medicine, he shuffles back home to Brooklyn for a fine scene with his mother, still played by Julie Bovasso (The Verdict). He attempts to apologize for his angsty behavior as a teen, claiming that “it wasn’t me.” She won’t hear of it. She’s forced to admit that his brashness got him out of their neighborhood, and moving him towards better things. Sure he was a bastard, but that’s part of who he is. The conversation allows Tony to reclaim some of his confidence, tempered now with a bit of humility, and eventually ask Jackie for her help. Thus landing him a starring role in the worst Broadway show in history.

Staying Alive takes place in a strange, mythical universe in which hit Broadway shows have no plot, no dialogue, no singing, and consist only of perverse undulations to god awful music. Tony snags the lead role in “Satan’s Alley,” which sounds like a porno movie, and plays like a porno movie. Tony struts about the stage wearing a loin cloth and a thick veneer of sweat, getting whipped by latex Pulp Fiction gimps and holding Laura’s crotch in his face. The director, played by Steve Inwood, watches the opening night performance and says, “Perfect!” This, my dear readers, is not our universe, nor any I would wish to inhabit. "Satan's Alley" is all a metaphor, obviously. It’s probably supposed to illustrate Tony’s sexual frustration, descent into bastardry and his ultimate elevation to mature manhood, but I think it may be a better metaphor for Sylvester Stallone’s first break into show business, called A Party at Kitty and Stud’s. Never heard of it? It was renamed Italian Stallion after the success of Rocky, six years later. Still nothing…? A Party at Kitty and Stud's is a porno movie.

Sylvester Stallone’s first film was a porno movie. He played “Stud,” if you must know. Staying Alive feels like a personal film for writer/director Sylvester Stallone, as I mentioned above. It’s about an Italian-American New Yorker struggling to get into show business, clearly talented but lacking in experience and maturity. Tony Manero repeatedly says he promised his mother he’d never do nudity, but is so desperate for a gig that he frequently capitulates to potential agents – who all turn him down, incidentally – that he’s basically willing to do anything. “Satan’s Alley” is only one step away from a porno movie. I mean seriously, look at this thing. This is Tony Manero’s Party at Kitty and Stud’s. It's his first big break, and it’s an embarrassment. Oh sure, the audience seems to love it, but Staying Alive is a movie. Stallone tweaked the finale so it would be a little more satisfying than real life, kind of like the apologetic ending of Annie Hall, but without the apology. This is a director revisiting his past and exorcising his personal demons. It's all laid bare on the screen.

It's a mess, but it's pretty infectious. Of course, you could say the same thing about the dumpster behind a clinic… Okay, Staying Alive isn’t a great movie, or even a particularly good one, but it’s easy to grow fond of Sylvester Stallone’s attempt to turn a Saturday Night Fever sequel – a doomed proposition if ever there was one – into something personal and heartfelt. He’s undone by a series of off-putting costumes and awkward stage shows that are too gauche for words, not to mention a soundtrack by The Bee-Gees (and Stallone's brother Frank) that never reaches the soaring heights of the original film's song listings. But the cast is game, the intent is sincere, and the end result is only as dated as every other movie of the era. Which is pretty damned dated, but what can you do? It was the 1980s, and everyone alive at the time was equally responsible for what was trendy and what wasn’t. I don't know about you, but I miss the spandex. Does Staying Alive pass The Test of Time? Better than you’d think. It’s a misfire, but at least it grazed the target.

It’s nowhere near the quality of The Godfather Part II or Spider-Man 2 or any other sequel that arguably surpassed the original, but it continues the emotional arc of the hero and it doesn't just regurgitate the first film’s plot. It doesn’t feel like a soulless studio cash-in. In that respect, Staying Alive is at least a hell of a lot better than The Hangover Part II or Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. No, Staying Alive is not the worst sequel ever made. In fact, it’s halfway decent. Just don’t watch it immediately after Saturday Night Fever and you'll have a fun experience. Next week on The Test of Time we’ll take a look at a hit action movie from 1991 that, today, is best known for something it didn't even have: an English accent. You know, it's true.

Every Test of Time I do, I do it for you guys… Movie Review - - 'STAYING ALIVE' - NYTimes.com 'STAYING ALIVE' By Janet Maslin Published: July 15, 1983 ONLY the presence of John Travolta turns ''Staying Alive'' from an unqualified disaster into a qualified one. Mr. Travolta is able to radiate warmth and sweetness even under the direst of circumstances, which are certainly the ones in which he finds himself here. As directed by Sylvester Stallone, who is also co-writer and coproducer, ''Staying Alive'' is a sequel with no understanding of what made its predecessor work. The first film was funny and touching, powered by a phenomenally successful score. This one is clumsy, mean spirited and amazingly unmusical. ''Staying Alive,'' which opens today at the Ziegfeld, resumes the story of Tony Manero five years later. He's now a dancer living in Manhattan, and he's after all those things that today's movie characters feel especially eager to pursue: success, celebrity and a beautiful body (his own).

He has clearly developed the last and is hoping it will bring him the first two, as he auditions, in various ''All That Jazz''-inspired sequences, for roles in Broadway musicals. En route to the predictable triumph, he romances two other dancers, a good-hearted chorus girl (Cynthia Rhodes) and a smirky, sarcastic star called Laura (Finola Hughes). Tony first sees Laura as she performs one of the ungainly, Apacheinspired dance routines that contribute all too heavily to the choreography. Laura whirls her hair. Tony grins. In the movie's primitive terms, this (plus a romp through Central Park) means it might be love. However, Laura turns out to be rich and snootty, and she sneers insult after insult at Tony, who under Mr. Stallone's tutelage has unfortunately learned to sneer back. The dialogue, also written by Norman Wexler, consists almost entirely of cheerless wisecracks., interrupted occasionally by small talk about how fabulous the Broadway show is going to be. The show, titled ''Satan's Alley'' (''a journey through hell that ends with an ascent to heaven,'' as one character describes it), is particularly dreadful.

The costumes, by Bob Mackie, are gaudy even by Mr. Mackie's standards, and the dancers writhe through graceless contortions. Mr. Travolta looks terrifically agile, but that's not enough to save these sequences. However, the audience supposedly loves the show and loves Tony and decrees that he will be a big star. This prompts him to stride through Times Square in a final, show-biz epiphany. And it induces Mr. Stallone, at long last, to play the title song, which is left over from the first film but provides the only musically uplifting moment in the second. There are a few new songs by the Bee Gees; they're pleasant, but little more, and they have been unaccountably buried beneath the dialogue. Songs by Frank Stallone, the director's brother, are featured much more prominently. According to the production notes, these ''were chosen over hundreds of major contenders.'' Nevertheless, they are rivaled only by the arhythmic editing and by the outstandingly unpleasant performances by Miss Hughes and Steve Inwood (as the show's choreographer) as the most grating things here. Mr.

Travolta survives the film, but he would have been better off almost anywhere else - even in ''Flashdance.'' That, not ''Staying Alive,'' turns out to be the ''Saturday Night Fever'' knockoff of the summer. ''Staying Alive'' is rated PG (''Parental Guidance Suggested''). It contains faintly suggestive dance routines and infrequent off-color language. Still Afoot STAYING ALIVE, directed by Sylvester Stallone; screenplay by Mr. Stallone and Norman Wexler, based on characters created by Nik Cohn; director of photography, Nick McLean; edited by Don Zimmerman and Mark Warner; music by Frank Stallone and the Bee Gees; produced by Sylvester Stallone and Robert Stigwood; released by Paramount Pictures. At the Ziegfeld, Avenue of the Americas and 54th Street. Running time: 96 minutes. This film is rated PG. Tony Manero . . . . .

John Travolta Staying Alive Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 89 out of 127 people found the following review useful: ONE OF THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD MOVIES EVER MADE from Queens, New York 11 July 2001 Sylvester Stallone's "Staying Alive" is one of the most misunderstood movies ever made. It is the sequel to the very popular "Saturday Night Fever". However, "Staying Alive" is often pegged as a turkey in comparison to the first film. That is very unfair. I wonder whether critics have anything against the film or Stallone himself. Stallone had established himself as a very capable director with "Paradise Alley" in 1978 and "Rocky II" in 1979 and "Rocky III" in 1982. But they seem unwilling to lay off Stallone and his many talents. I think he does an excellent job continuing the story of Tony Manero (played again by John Travolta). If you love dance, you will love this film. Stallone uses his camera extremely well to capture the nuances of dance itself.

There is one very strong sequence in which Tony and his on-again, off-again girlfriend practice for a Broadway musical that takes up about 12 minutes and is just exhilarating. The story is also very good here. Tony is now a professional dance instructor in Manhattan who has a chance to get a part in the hottest new Broadway musical out there "Satan's Alley". Tony finds himself torn between two women and Stallone asks a lot of tough questions about relationships here that a harebrained movie wouldn't even touch. Travolta is again on target here as Tony Manero. A lesser actor wouldn't even touch material as tricky as this, but Travolta takes the risks and it pays off. The music (by the Bee Gees and Frank Stallone) is excellent and fulfills the same purpose music did in the original. "Staying Alive" probably won't ever receive the recognition it deserves. For those of you wondering, I am not being paid by Paramount to say this. My opinions CAN'T and NEVER WILL BE bought. I genuinely feel that this is an exceptional film and that it deserves better than it has received over the years.

**** out of 4 stars from Muriaé, Brazil 16 March 1999 I don't understand why critics always scorn this film. OK, it doesn't have the magic of its predecessor "Saturday Night Fever", but it works as an "80's point of view" of the original film. The thing is that you should watch this film as a single one, not a 'sequel'. It has nothing to do with "Saturday Night Fever" but the main character Tony Manero (once again played by John Travolta) and his mother (Julie Bovasso) in a brief appearance. Fast forward from 1977 to 1983. Now Tony wants to be a Broadway star and keeps his struggle for a more mature purpose, as he himself is more mature. Manero's "moody girl" here is Laura (Finola Hughes, not so convincing), who also looks down on him. The funniest thing about "Staying Alive" is that it is directed by Sylvester Stallone! (No one remembers...) The soundtrack is one of my favorite, although it didn't received the deserved attention at the time of its release, nor did the movie itself.

(I think people were afraid of another 'Bee Gees fever'). After this film, Travolta's career fell out of the spotlight only to be retaken in late 80's with "Look Who's Talking". Summarizing, in my opinion it is a very good movie, but don't expect this to be another "Saturday Night Fever". Was the above review useful to you? 37 out of 53 people found the following review useful: I agree..!! from United States 6 June 2005 I absolutely agree with Treadway...this is one of my favorite movies ever...when it came out in 1983 my kids were babies and we still had drive ins..I must have taken my babies to see that(they slept)7 times at the drive in..the music..the dancing...everyone was so good looking..it was and is a FUN movie..and thats what counts..!! Now my new kids can enjoy it as well...I LOVE Cynthia Rhoads..she can dance her fanny off and she is a wonderful singer as well. No this movie won't win an Oscar but how many times do you want to see Sheindlers List(sp)?

The music is wonderful..I ADORE the Bee Gees and the dance number with Travolta and Rhodes is so sensual and sexy. The last number is just plain FUN...I don't have anything bad at all to say about this movie..10+ stars..!! Was the above review useful to you? 44 out of 72 people found the following review useful: I'm Speechless... from Syracuse, NY 6 May 2000 Watching "Staying Alive" will do that to you. A truly perplexing movie it raises all sorts of questions like "Why was this thing made?" and "Why would Travolta do this?" I guess those were pretty lean years for Barbarino, so we should cut him some slack. Now Sylvester Stallone, he should have known better. "Staying Alive" is the sequel to the hit, and FAR superior movie, "Saturday Night Fever." This film is hardly a sequel people were crying out to see, and it doesn't surprise me in the least that it's a very obscure movie. Travolta reprises his "Fever" role, as Tony Manero, the big-haired, tight-clothes, bad-accented dancer from Brooklyn.

On his own and trying to make it as a dancer, he works his hardest to become a big star. Does he make it? Well you have to watch, and let me tell you it's a riveting ride. Or not. "Alive" is a terribly funny movie, for all the wrong reasons. The play Tony ends up in is a particular highlight. Called "Satan's Alley," it's a man's descent into hell, full of laser lights, mist, and scantily clad women. This is the first Broadway movie I had heard of that was totally dancing, no singing, speaking, or character development. Kudos to the fact checker for the film, who had obviously seen a lot of Broadway shows. Even "Cats" was more coherent than that piece of crap. But the real highlight is Travolta himself. As directed by Stallone, he bears more than a passing resemblance to Rambo in almost every scene of consequence. Every single time the guy dances in the movie one of two things happen. Either A) he gets really sweaty and greasy, or B) you get tons of shot of his disgusting package. Those dance pants are WAY too tight. "Staying Alive" is a bizarre movie.

You get the feeling Stallone and the rest of the crew thought they were making an incredible movie. It shows in every self-obsessed frame of this film; it takes itself way too seriously and ends up looking absolutely ridiculous. Recommended for fans of ridiculously poor movies. Was the above review useful to you? 32 out of 51 people found the following review useful: Extend Butler Extend! from United Kingdom 17 October 2005 For those of you who think this movie is a let down, then I am afraid you are let down. This 80's classic has more fever in its final scene than the whole of the first movie put together. Okay the first one rocked, get over it, its a story about life and having the confidence to go for it. There is not a part in this movie that is I personally don't like, in fact I could probably read the script start to finish. I ain't no freak but this movie is quite simply a master piece, It is the Rocky IV of dance movies and twice the film at that. Its a progression of his life, the disco days are gone and he needs to get something going to quench his thirst for life.

It if anything teaches you to reach for the the unattainable, the only barriers in life are the ones we put up our selves, Manero teaches us we can go all the way and not sell ourselves short. Read between the lines 80's Edam and I love it! I GIVE YOU THE LEAD IN A Broadway SHOW AND YOU WALK OUT THE DOOR! Count it Down! and 5678. Was the above review useful to you? 17 out of 23 people found the following review useful: It's Okay to Like This Movie! 11 July 2005 *** This review may contain spoilers *** I'm not going to say this is the best movie ever made, but I won't deny I've seen it dozens of times, and that it's one of my all-time favorites. Part of the reason that it's become one of those movies people love to hate is that, of course, it's a sequel to a genuinely really good film, a serious movie that's not really about dancing at all, Saturday Night Fever.

If you can set aside the comparison and the anger that Stallone may have "ruined" the attempt at a good sequel (please--as if SNF even had a possibility for a serious sequel!), then you can enjoy this movie on its own level, as a fun piece of sexploitation with a dance twist not at all different from that other big 80's dance movie, Flashdance. As such, it's fantastic. Tony Manero has made it across the bridge and now he has his sights set on a starring Broadway role. It's hard, of course, and although he's a fine dancer, he must struggle through two jobs (dance instructor and hot waiter) while trying to break into showbiz. He shares the struggle with the single most underrated 80's icon, Cynthia Rhodes (also in Flashdance and Dirty Dancing). He likes her well enough but likes Finola Hughes (Blossom, How Do I Look?) much better, echoing the struggle between okay and just great loves he had in SNF. His one-night-stand with Laura (Hughes) gets him a part in a musical called Satan's Alley (a Dante-meets-Fosse extravaganza).

When the surreptitiously gay male lead turns out to be "too mechanical" to get the sparks going with sultry Laura, Tony replaces him successfully (he has "anger" and "intensity"). Tension is created by the most ordinary love triangle, and just before the final act on opening night Laura tries to deflate an exuberant Tony after he rejects her invitation to get together after the show by telling him he doesn't "have it." To prove he does, Tony spins her into a smoke cloud and performs an impromptu solo that proves to all that he indeed has "it" and then some. The movie ends with the simplest of all conclusions: yep, Tony made it! Sounds awful? It is! On the one hand, you can almost see the idea behind this plot, some genuine (if horribly executed) effort at continuing SNF's storyline: was Tony serious about leaving all the Brooklyn b-llsh-t behind him after he realizes the emptiness of his life that horrible night? Could he really learn to respect women, even to be a friend to one? Did he have what it takes to make it outside his small pond? On the other, apparently no one was able to provide satisfying answers to these questions.

The love triangle doesn't move beyond the original; it mocks it. The Tony Manero character doesn't seem to grow at all. If anything, it's even less introspective. But trying to evaluate a plot in a movie like this is like trying to find profundity in an episode of Charlie's Angels. What makes this movie good is exactly what makes it bad, too. Travolta was never in better shape in his life, and he dances well. This can be either gross or riveting. I don't know if Hughes did her own dancing (seems so), but she's supple and sexy, if not as absolutely liquid as Rhodes, who is mesmerizing. Some dance sequences are great; some just awful (the strobe sequence is laugh-out-loud ridiculous). Some music is great ("Someone Belonging to Someone" by the Bee Gees); some pap ("Never Gonna Give You Up"). The fact that the plot and the dialogue are skimpy is actually a blessing. Do you really want to hear these people talking? No. The music does the talking, when it's good.

Here's what I propose: I propose that, if this had been a stand-alone film, if the plot were just background and SNF had never been made, this movie would be as beloved as Flashdance or Footloose or Dirty Dancing or any of those. Some people don't like these either, but that's okay because nobody likes them. Was the above review useful to you? 23 out of 35 people found the following review useful: "I Want To Strut." - Fun stuff... from Chicago, IL 22 December 1998 What, no user comments for Staying Alive? Well then I guess I better add one. :) This movie is entertaining, but I must tell you, I always thought this film was considered a BIG flop until I checked business information here. Hell, it made almost 70 million - that doesn't sound like too much of a flop to me. Staying Alive is a pretty good film, though not even close to the MONSTER that Saturday Night Fever was years earlier.

It has a nice soundtrack (again, how can it compare to the one from the first film - TWENTY MILLION albums sold is no easy feat to match) and manages to make us still love Tony Manero no matter how big of a dork he is at times. Yeah, the film is unbelievable and silly as hell at times, but it's still a good hour and half of fun to check out when you have time. How many people remember this film was directed by Sylvester Stallone? Not many. Look for his cameo performance (he bumps into Travolta on the street while passing by) as well as hearing someone yell "Yo Adrian! Showtime" while the dancers are preparing for their show toward the end of the film. Corny stuff, but fun, and Tony can still strut. Enjoy! Was the above review useful to you? 13 out of 20 people found the following review useful: an interior fight metaphor from Italy 28 November 2005 This movie means to represent the fight between love and passion, and it makes that by the love story between Tony and Jackie and his involving with Laura.

At the end the chief character will make a not simple choice giving importance to the person who really loves him understanding he loves too. The dance show is a beauty synthesis of this conflict, as well as the musics which are amazing, above all, in my opinion, that one in whom there are much light effects during the "journey through the hell" scene: it is astonishing (Vince Dicola and Stallone composers)! The title is: Royale theater show (finally I knew after many years). Good interpretation of the actors, although perhaps the movie is too short than it should be, to analyze better the individual characters. Cynthia Rhodes is an excellent interpreter of her role, like also Finola Hughes able to playing an intriguing charming woman. Behind the Hell there is the Light and so the movie ends. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Dance so close to the fire from ohio 23 May 2007 We ALL dance close to the fire. We are born. We live lives of intense passion and longing and lust and devotion. Then we are recycled into the cosmos like so many particles of interplanetary sediment.

We ALL know what it is like to dance on the edge of the void. On the precipice. The parapet. To dangle over the edge into the vast infinite of our very souls. It is for this reason that "Staying Alive" is a great film. One of my favorite films. Great films have universal themes, themes that anyone can understand, of any nationality, of any gender or religion. Great films transcend language and culture barriers. If you showed a man who never spoke English or even saw a TV "Staying Alive" I am confident he would understand it as not only a great winning film but as a story he personally could relate to. Tony Manero could not be stopped after "Saturday Night Fever". His story needed to be told. To be completed. To be brought full circle. It simply would not rest. Like Lazarus its' spirit arose - like a Phoenix - into the blazing heat of a thousand cinema screens, to be projected out and reflected into the hearts and minds of a million captive audience members. To experience Tony Manero and his struggle is to witness nothing less than the writhing of a child struggling to escape the womb.

Director Sylvester Stallone has, however, attempted metaphor on a grand scale with "Staying Alive", particularly with the cataclysmic dance finale "Satan's Alley" where Tony struggles to choose between heaven (salvation) or hell (damnation). Sin or salvation. Which will he choose? Stallone paints Tony Manero's story with broad, elegant strokes. The early scenes, of Tony going to auditions or skipping about town are told through the poetry of the street. You can practically smell the garbage and the sweat emanating from Stallone's richly-hued pallatte. Especially convincing is a dusky shower scene, where Travolta (as Tony) works himself into a generous lather that accents his beautifully tanned and buffed physique. Costume design was clearly an important element to the production and one that I take particular delight in admiring. Many different colors are featured and spandex and headbands seem to be everywhere.

Historically, this is quite accurate and provides an interesting "look back" at the zeitgeist of the aerobics-era 80s where nothing said "I'm cool" like having symetrically feathered and moussed hair that looked like a porcupine was hibernating on your scalp. Stallone has never shortchanged the women in his film and "Staying Alive" gives two seasoned actresses plumb roles to sink their teeth into. Finola Hughes is the classical temptress: British, snotty, fur-coat wearing, rich, bad teeth. Cynthia Rhodes is her sweet and long-suffering opposite: American, tearful, sweet, kind, poor. The big Broadway show at the end, "Satan's Alley" is where the film pulls out all the stops. This is Stallone shooting for the moon and, like a pro jockey, he pushes the film to its absolute limit in his quest for perfection. Everyone is clearly in peak physical condition and absolutely NO EXPENSE has been spared on the production design or the electrifying original music score and dance routines.

Stallone's camera goes everywhere, like a stalking panther cat, recording every rippling fluctuation and every crack of the whip, as "Satan's Alley" plays out its bleak yet mesmerizingly operatic clash of the titans. You see before your very eyes, Tony Manero having the spandex wripped from his leathery skin by the demons of hades and cast into the orchestra pit. But more than an awesome scenario of solar birth and re-birth played out on human scale, this is the battle for Tony's soul. At a climatic moment in the action watch as Tony chooses his fate and breaks gloriously free to soar like a fiery flying lion above the Andes into a whip-cracking solo, whirling like a mad dervish on the Persian plain. See this movie. Author: peanut2728 24 February 2005 I think this movie is really underrated. Even though it is a little predictable and the acting is not the greatest, i LOVE it and i think that it is worth watching. Me and my sister must've watched it over fifty times. The music is great and the dancing is entertaining.

John Travolta is always cool and every character is unique and likable, even Butler(wink) and Laura, the witch. It is humorous at many parts and, (i know i'll get attacked by this comment), but i liked it way better than the first movie. But i liked Grease 2 also. Please watch Staying Alive, it's really good. And if you like dancing movies, watch the In-crowd (1988), it's cool. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 10: Staying Alive (1983) Original Trailer - YouTube Staying Alive (1983) Original Trailer Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Dec 11, 2009 Sequel to Saturday Night Fever John Travolta

Question: 'Staying Alive' was a sequel to which other film?
Answer: 'SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER'